I have read (and reviewed) Stephenson &
Rhodes' previous book of esoteric wisdom, titled (sort of whimsically) Can
Christians Be Saved?I was very impressed and moved by the
sensible, but also mystical, blend of religions into a modern vision of
God and life—and of the oneness of God and life.

This book, The Lost Secrets of the Ancient Mystery Schools,
presents a similar exposition of modern mystical religion. This book is
more specifically Christian in the sense that the "11 Steps" of the
mystical journey are presented through investigation of pivotal events
in the life of Jesus.

The conceit of the book is that in ancient times there were "mystery
schools" that taught the true, deeper secrets behind religion, doctrine
and myth, and that these schools used a technique similar to the
psychotherapeutic process of psychodrama. "Mystery plays" were created
by small groups of initiates who ritually relived and acted out stories
from sacred texts as though they were dreams. In a dream, it is said,
you, the dreamer, are really everybody and everything, and to
understand and amplify a dream you can reimagine the dream from all the
various different perspectives. So the same with the sacred stories. To
understand the passion and crucifixion of Jesus, for instance, one
might imagine oneself as the Cross. What would the tree that had been
cut down by the Romans to use in their horrific criminal punishments
have thought about its wood being used in that way? And how would the
tree have felt when it discovered it was the incarnate God nailed to
its limbs? Such questions amplify the dream and the myth and encourage
new insights.

Stephenson & Rhodes' book is based on real experiences of this kind
of work with meditation and study groups they've run, but it's slightly
fictionalized with the actors using Biblical names in order to be less
personal and more universal. It is laid out like a workbook with blank,
lined pages after each chapter for answering study questions or noting
individual insights.

The Biblical stories are all relatively familiar. I think I know what
they all mean. But as I read through this book, I found new ways of
understanding and appreciating them. This is a good technique; it
relies on one's own inner wisdom and so discovers that inner wisdom to
be one's own "Divine Self."

This book stands on its own as a good read. It would also make a
wonderful focus for a meditation or church group, especially because it
would recreate the group as just such an "ancient mystery school." The
group would become what the book's about.

Toby Johnson, PhDis
author of nine books: three non-fiction books that apply the wisdom of
his
teacher and "wise old man," Joseph Campbell to modern-day social and
religious problems, four gay genre novels that dramatize spiritual
issues at the heart of gay identity, and two books on gay men's
spiritualities and the mystical experience of homosexuality and editor
of a collection of "myths" of gay men's consciousness.

Johnson's book
GAY
SPIRITUALITY: The Role of Gay Identity in the Transformation of
Human Consciousness won a Lambda Literary Award in 2000.

His GAY
PERSPECTIVE: Things Our [Homo]sexuality Tells Us about the Nature
of God and the Universe was nominated for a Lammy in 2003. They
remain
in
print.

FINDING
YOUR OWN TRUE MYTH: What I Learned from Joseph Campbell: The Myth
of the Great Secret III tells the story of Johnson's learning the
real nature of religion and myth and discovering the spiritual
qualities of gay male consciousness.